Natalia Kuchinskaya

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Olympic medal record
Women's Artistic Gymnastics
Gold 1968 Mexico City Team competition
Gold 1968 Mexico City Balance beam
Bronze 1968 Mexico City All-around
Bronze 1968 Mexico City Floor exercise
World Championships
Gold 1966 Dortmund Uneven bars
Gold 1966 Dortmund Balance beam
Gold 1966 Dortmund Floor exercise
Silver 1966 Dortmund Team competition
Silver 1966 Dortmund All-around
Bronze 1966 Dortmund Vault
European Championships
Silver 1967 Amsterdam Balance beam
Silver 1967 Amsterdam Floor exercise

Natalia Alexandrovna Kuchinskaya (Russian: Наталья Александровна Кучинская; alternative transliteration Natal'ja Alieksandrovna Kutchinskaja), also known as Natasha Kuchinskaya (Russian: Наташа Кучинская) (born March 12, 1949, St. Petersburg, Russia) is a retired Soviet Olympic gymnast.

Kuchinskaya was born on March 12, 1949 in St. Petersburg and was selected for a gymnastics class while still in kindergarten.[1] She originally aspired to become a ballet dancer, but was convinced to study gymnastics by her parents, who were both involved with the sport.[1] She trained with Vladimir Reyson and later national team coach Larissa Latynina, who was said to consider Kuchinskaya one of her favorite gymnasts.[2]

By 1965, at age sixteen, Kuchinskaya was the USSR national champion. At the 1966 World Championships, after winning her second Nationals title, the USSR Cup and the World Trials, she established herself as one of the stars of the Soviet team, winning gold medals in three of the four event finals (balance beam, uneven bars and floor exercise), a bronze on vault, and silvers in the all-around and team events. Kuchinskaya continued her winning streak in 1967, when she won the pre-Olympic test event in Mexico City and swept the USSR Nationals, walking away with the all-around title and every single event final gold medal.[3]

At the 1968 Olympics, Kuchinskaya was arguably the most popular member of the Soviet team. She placed third in the all-around, behind Vera Caslavska and her teammate Zinaida Voronina, she also shared in the team gold medal and won the balance beam title and a bronze on the floor exercise. She was dubbed "The Bride of Mexico" and "the Sweetheart of Mexico" by the admiring press and was serenaded with a folk song, "Natalie," during her stay in Mexico City.[2][4][5]

The Olympics was Kuchinskaya's final competition. At the time, her sudden departure from gymnastics was attributed to a thyroid illness;[4] in an interview in the late 90s Kuchinskaya also revealed that she had lost her motivation for the sport.[1]

Following her retirement, Kuchinskaya coached in the USSR, Japan and the United States. She has been married since 1980 to optician Alexander Kotliar and currently lives and coaches in the USA, running her own gymnastics club in Illinois.[4][6] In 1999 she appeared on the "Soviet Sport War" episode of the PBS documentary The Red Files discussing her experiences in gymnastics.[1] In 2006 she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.[4]


[edit] Achievements (non-Olympic)

Year Event AA Team VT UB BB FX
1965 USSR Championships 1st 1st
USSR Cup 2nd
1966 World Championships 2nd 2nd 3rd 1st 1st 1st
USSR Championships 1st 2nd 1st 1st
USSR Cup 1st
1967 European Championships 2nd 2nd
USSR Championships 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
1968 USSR Championships 1st


[edit] Where she is now

She currently coaches at International gymnastics in Mt. Prospect, Illinois.

http://www.internationalgymnasticsgym.com/


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Interview with Natalia Kuchinskaya. The Red Files supplementary material, PBS (1999). Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
  2. ^ a b Soviet Sports Wars(transcript). PBS (April 1999). Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
  3. ^ List of competitive results. Gymn-Forum. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
  4. ^ a b c d Legends: Natalia Kuchinskaya. International Gymnast. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
  5. ^ Do favorites always win?. Sport in the USSR (August 1988). Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
  6. ^ International Gymnastics home page. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.

[edit] External links

Olympic champions in artistic gymnastics – women's team competition

1928: Netherlands Netherlands • 1936: Germany Germany • 1948: Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia • 1952: Soviet Union Soviet Union • 1956: Soviet Union Soviet Union • 1960: Soviet Union Soviet Union • 1964: Soviet Union Soviet Union • 1968: Soviet Union Soviet Union • 1972: Soviet Union Soviet Union • 1976: Soviet Union Soviet Union • 1980: Soviet Union Soviet Union • 1984: Romania Romania • 1988: Soviet Union Soviet Union • 1992: Unified Team Unified Team • 1996: United States United States • 2000: Romania Romania • 2004: Romania Romania